UBS Group Upgrades Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) to Strong-Buy

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) was upgraded by stock analysts at UBS Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Monday. Capital One Financial set a $55.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Friday, October 17th. Telsey Advisory Group set a $74.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Zacks Research cut Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Jefferies Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.71.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

JEF traded down $1.43 during trading on Thursday, hitting $61.81. 2,456,789 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,632,672. Jefferies Financial Group has a one year low of $39.28 and a one year high of $82.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The firm has a market cap of $12.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.24 and a beta of 1.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $55.73 and its 200 day moving average is $57.72.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its earnings results on Monday, September 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.75 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.25% and a net margin of 7.40%.Jefferies Financial Group’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JEF. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 11.2% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 81.3% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 80.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 7,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 3,223 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 58,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,843,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the period. Finally, Prana Capital Management LP boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. Prana Capital Management LP now owns 92,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,031,000 after purchasing an additional 19,413 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group Inc operates as an investment banking and capital markets firm in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Investment Banking and Capital Markets, and Asset Management. It provides investment banking, advisory services with respect to mergers or acquisitions, debt financing, restructurings or recapitalizations, and private capital advisory transactions; underwriting and placement services related to corporate debt, municipal bonds, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, equity and equity-linked securities, and loan syndication services; and corporate lending services.